There is strong interest in 1980s nostalgia these days and record labels are stepping up with eagerly anticipated releases in the first quarter of 2019.

Punk and alternative titles are strong in the first three months of the year. Records by The Flesh Eaters, Soul Asylum and Hunt Sales kick off what is expected to be a strong year for both new and reissued music.

The Flesh Eaters’ I Used to Be Pretty brings together legendary musicians from The Blasters, X and Los Lobos to create a record that gets to the heart of punk’s early California roots.

Soul Asylum’s punk years are captured and remastered with While You Were Out combined with Clam Dip and Other Delights from Omnivore. There are a few unreleased gems in this collection originally recorded in the mid-1980s.

Fat Possum releases the Hunt Sales Memorial album Get Your Shit Together on its Big Legal Mess label and it marks the first solo album from the sideman to David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Todd Rundgren. Sales has done a lot of living and tells his stories on the new album.

February 1, 2019 – Van Duren –Van Duren — Waiting: The Van Duren Story Original Documentary Soundtrack (Omnivore) – obscure even by Big Star standards, this Memphis pop artist from the ‘70s is celebrated in new film documentary and Omnivore soundtrack